By Margaret Graham with news of an exciting offer exclusive to Frost readers.
** A very special offer for Frost readers: sign up for the House Party Creative Writing Retreat in June at this great venue, and save £150. Just email Moira Martingale quoting the code: ‘Frost’. This is a rare opportunity to find time to finish that manuscript or short story in the company of others. A professional will be on hand to help when needed. There will be great food, wine, a swimming pool, sunshine… Read more to find out the where, what and why.
‘So,’ owner Moira Martingale ponders, ‘where did the idea of French House Party come from in the first place?’
One sultry August evening, sitting around the table in Carcassonne with friends, it turned out that all of us had read Yann Martel‘s Booker-winning ‘Life of Pi’ and everyone had a view about it. The book-talk went on for ages, punctuated only by the uncorking of further bottles of the lovely local wines from this region of southern France, which is Languedoc-Roussillon.
We were all arty folk: a successful ceramicist, an early-retired theatre director, teachers, artists and writers, one of the latter being myself. A journalist-turned-author, I also had a teaching qualification and a doctorate in English literature.
Suddenly it dawned on me: why not set up holiday courses for people to come and do precisely what we were doing: discussing books with each other during a holiday in the sun with lovely food and wine laid on.
At that time there were five en suite bedrooms in this 200-year-old farmhouse, so in theory there was room for ten people. My friends were all skilled and enthusiastic artists and within minutes I had my Ceramics, Arts and Creative Writing tutors with a planned Books and Drama course run jointly by myself and my theatre director friend, Chris. It was as easy as that.
Or was it? Marketing? Promotion? Advertising? Annual accounts? Business plans? What did I know about forecasts and profits and losses? I found I knew nothing the moment the website went up. Because NOTHING happened. The enquiries@frenchhouseparty mailbox was empty.
Slowly I learned, and things picked up. My break-even point was five people per course and at six I was in profit, although I was clearly in no danger of being named in the Sunday Times Rich List. Frequently we had three or four people booked onto a course and I still ran it. Ruthless businesswoman I was not.
Eventually I made all the arts courses groups-only, other than Sarah Hymas’s Creative Writing, which was regularly over-subscribed. In 2009 I extended the house to eight bedrooms. Things were cooking, literally, because French House Party offered additional courses which individuals could join – various cookery breaks tutored by first-class French chefs and our Summer Songwriting course run by the respected singer-songwriter and 1970s/80s chart-topper Dean Friedman.
Along with Creative Writing, these remain the most popular, and are effortlessly filled year after year. Other arts courses continue to operate and the demand is, in fact, increasing, but now these are on a groups-only or privately-booked tailor-made basis.
Dedicated writers have an additional option now. Sarah Hymas, who is a professional mentor at her publishing company, is for the first time, offering a Writing Retreat for authors whose work is either complete or in progress. There will be no formal lessons, but individual one-to-one sessions for manuscript inspection, advice, help and ideas-input from someone with a pedigree in such expertise and who is fearless when it comes to sharing it.
This course – ‘Pen & Think’ starts on 15 June and ends on 20 June. The all-inclusive price is £895. As with all our courses, we provide free airport transfers and include extras such as a couple of dinners, including wine, out at lovely restaurants. (See our French house Party offer above)
In the years since that first inspirational nudge from ‘Life of Pi’, French House Party has been named one of the top ten learning retreats in a National Geographic book ‘The 100 Best Worldwide Vacations to Enrich Your Life’ and we have a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor, reflecting customer satisfaction. This year the Daily Telegraph named us as one of the top ten cookery holidays in France.
You see, it might have taken eight years, but finally I’m starting to sound like a businesswoman, aren’t I?
Moira Martingale
The French House Party, Carcassonne.
Email: enquiries@frenchhouseparty.co.uk or moiramartingale@me.com
Website: www.frenchhouseparty.eu
UK Mobile: 07900 322791
UK Landline: 01299 896819